MENLO PARK -- Facebook unveiled a new video feature Thursday for its Instagram photo-sharing service, in a move that underscores the growing popularity of apps that let users post and watch short digital movies with their smartphones.

Instagram, which says 130 million people use its service to share photos with friends, has now added a simple-to-use feature for sharing video clips up to 15 seconds long. That's more than twice the six-second limit on the popular Vine video-sharing service operated by Facebook rival Twitter, though other rival apps offer longer formats.

While Instagram chief Kevin Systrom said the service has no immediate plans to sell ads, analysts said the 15-second length may appeal to advertisers who are already used to buying 15- or 30-second television spots. That's probably no coincidence, said Clark Fredricksen, vice present at the industry research firm eMarketer.

"The fact the videos are 15 seconds could make a significant difference in the marketing potential for Instagram," said Fredricksen, who noted that several commercial brands, including General Electric, Burberry and Lululemon had already used the new service to post their own video clips on Thursday. Businesses can use Instagram in the same way they can create their own pages on Facebook, without necessarily buying ads.

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Systrom, however, said the 15-second length was a "Goldilocks" decision, chosen because six seconds seemed to limit users' creativity, while longer clips might overload a smartphone's processor or take more time than people want to spend.

"Over time, we'll figure out how advertising ends up being OK on Instagram in a useful way," he told reporters during an event at Facebook's main campus. Facebook bought Instagram last year in a deal valued at roughly $750 million.

Facebook and Instagram have been working on new video services for months, and the pressure to enter that market has increased since Twitter bought Vine last fall. Vine has caught on with many teens and celebrities who like creating short, often jokey, video clips to share with friends.

While the Vine app is not a big moneymaker, analysts say Google (GOOG) has shown that it can reap significant revenue from showing ads along with videos on its YouTube site. eMarketer recently projected that U.S. advertisers will spend $4 billion on digital video ads this year, doubling to $8 billion by 2016.

A team member demonstrates the new Instagram video during a press conference at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on Thursday, June 20, 2013. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)
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JOHN GREEN
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Other video-sharing apps, including Keek, Tout and Socialcam, have also become popular with teenagers and young adults in their 20s. Analysts say it's important for Facebook to offer new services that appeal to that demographic, since younger users are often drawn to the latest new thing.

Systrom acknowledged the recent explosion of video-sharing apps, but denied that was the reason for Instagram adding video now. He said he had thought about sharing photos and video when the service was developed three years ago, but technology at that time didn't allow fast and simple video-sharing.

With recent software advances, however, Systrom said Instagram was able to create a video app that he described as "fast, simple and beautiful -- everything we know and love about Instagram, but it moves."

The service works with Apple (AAPL) and Android smartphones. Users can choose from 13 optional "filters" to alter the appearance of their videos, in a manner similar to Instagram filters for photos. Systrom also showed off a feature that uses a smartphone's motion sensors to automatically smooth out the wobbliness that often plagues handheld videos.

Contact Brandon Bailey at 408-920-5022; follow him at Twitter.com/BrandonBailey